West Hawaii nurse Dee Ono named statewide Healthcare Hero

KAILUA-KONA — Sometimes a shift in perspective, an adjustment of approach, is all it takes to save a life.

That’s the gift Dee Ono gave to Clayton Punihaole almost 15 years ago. Three years since his passing, Punihaole’s wife, Pamela, now describes Ono as a hero for the impact the life-long nurse has had on her entire family. And the Healthcare Association of Hawaii agrees with that characterization.

The nonprofit honored 18 people across the state on Oct. 20, in Honolulu at its annual Healthcare Association of Hawaii Awards and Scholarship Gala. The organization presented Ono with a Hawaii Healthcare Hero award, one of five caregivers to receive the honor. Pamela Punihaole, who nominated Ono, was also in attendance.

“It’s pretty awesome because the public are the ones filling out the forms doing all the nominations, not the peer groups,” Ono said. “So that means a lot to me.”

A registered nurse who continues to work on an as-needed basis with West Hawaii Home Health, Ono has worked in the field for nearly half a century. She is now 69.

Caring for people in their homes creates a special kind of patient-caregiver bond, she said. Ono added that after working with the Punihaoles over so many years, their relationship naturally evolved into friendship. And the closeness and candor with Clayton began early.

A veteran of the Vietnam War who’d been exposed to Agent Orange during his deployment, Clayton faced a host of problems. His diabetes led to blindness. He suffered from high blood pressure, heart failure, neuropathy, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. Then, in 2004, Clayton was told he had end-stage renal failure.

He refused dialysis.

In the letter Pamela wrote nominating Ono as a healthcare hero, she described her husband’s state of mind and state of being at that time.

“Clayton basically checked out of living and spent his days on the recliner waiting to die,” she wrote.

Then, after a chance meeting in a parking lot and a conversation with Pamela, Ono shared some hard words with a man whose life she would soon begin helping to prolong by more than a decade.

“I basically asked him if he wanted to see his kids graduate from high school,” she remembered. “Did he want to see his grandchildren and watch them go through school? And then there were a lot of tears. But he made his decision to try dialysis and it worked well.”

Pamela said the results of that conversation and his choice to pursue treatment led Clayton to resume activities he loved in life, such as gardening. He also went on to advocate for those with disabilities. Everything he did and everything he became over the next 10 years, Pamela credits in part to Ono.

“She literally saved his life twice,” Pamela said.

Ono became a nurse at 21 because back in the 1960s, she said, there weren’t a lot of professional opportunities for women. But the job was a natural fit, something Pamela said she noticed immediately.

“When we first met Dee, we could tell right off she loves what she does,” Pamela said. “I nominated her because she took care of my husband for 13 years. She just has this sense of compassion … of caring for people.”